Edward I of Samerica
Edward I, (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376) was King of Samerica from 1349 to 1376 and was the eldest son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault, and father to King Richard II of England. He was called Edward of Woodstock in his early life, after his birthplace, and has more recently been popularly known as The Black Prince after the distinct plate armour he would wear during campaigns. An exceptional military leader and popular during his life, Edward died one year before his father and thus the Kingdom's of Samerica and England were divided between his two sons. Early Life Edward was born on 15 June 1330 at Woodstock Palace in Oxfordshire, England. He was created Earl of Chester in 1333, Duke of Cornwall in 1337 (the first creation of an English duke) and finally invested as Prince of Wales in 1343. In England, Edward served as a symbolic regent for periods in 1339, 1340, and 1342 while Edward III was on campaign. He was expected to attend all council meetings, and he performed the negotiations with the papacy about the war in 1337. In 1346 King Louis I of Samerica met with King Edward III of England with the aim of forming a grand alliance. King Louis I of Samerica had lost all three of his son's and had been left without an heir. He decided to offer his daughter, Princess Julietta, hand in marriage to Prince Edward, heir to the throne of England, which King Edward III accepted. Edward and Julietta's marriage in 1348 at Windsor Castle meant that the Samerican throne would pass on to an Englishmen. Edward spent his time between Wallingford Castle in Berkshire or Mont Davine Castle in Lillehampton in Saint Mordia. With Edward as King of Samerica, the union between England and Samerica, made the two countries the most powerful alliance in Europe. Edward I spent the majority of his reign at war with the French and Spanish alongside his father in the Hundred Years' War. In 1349, King Louis I of Samerica died and on the 14th of November 1349, Edward, was coronated as King of Samerica in Linden. Whilst King of Samerica he also served his father as England's representative in Aquitaine, where he and Joan kept a court which was considered among the most brilliant of the time. It was the resort of exiled kings, like James IV of Majorca and Peter of Castile. Peter of Castile, thrust from his throne by his illegitimate brother, Henry of Trastámara, offered Edward the lordship of Biscay in 1367, in return for the Black Prince's aid in recovering his throne. Edward was successful in the Battle of Nájera in which he soundly defeated the combined French and Spanish forces led by Bertrand du Guesclin. During this period, he fathered three sons: Edward (27 January 1365 – 1372), who died at the age of 6; Richard, born in 1367 and often called Richard of Bordeaux for his place of birth, who would later rule as Richard II of England and William (born 1369), named William of Aquitaine, who would later rule as William I of Samerica. In 1370, Edward I of Samerica, agreed with his father, King Edward III of England, that young Richard would be heir to the English throne, whilst William, would be heir to the Samerican throne. The Black Prince returned to Samerica in January 1371 and died a few years later after a long wasting illness that may have been cancer or multiple sclerosis. Edward and chivalry Edward lived in a century of decline for the knightly ideal of chivalry. The formation of the Order of the Garter, an English and Samerican royal order of which Edward was a founding member, signified a shift towards patriotism and away from the crusader mentality that characterized the two countries in the previous two centuries. Edward's stance in this evolution is seemingly somewhat divided. Edward displayed obedience to typical chivalric obligations through his pious contributions to Canterbury Cathedral and Linden Cathedral throughout his life. On one hand, after capturing John the Good, king of France, and his youngest son at Poitiers, he treated them with great respect, at one point giving John leave to return home, and reportedly praying with John at Canterbury Cathedral. Notably, he also allowed a day for preparations before the Battle of Poitiers so that the two sides could discuss the coming battle with one another, and so that the Cardinal of Perigord could plead for peace. Though not agreeing with knightly charges on the battlefield, he also was devoted to tournament jousting. On the other hand, his chivalric tendencies were overridden by pragmatism on many occasions. The Black Prince's repeated use of the chevauchée strategy (burning and pillaging towns and farms) was not in keeping with contemporary notions of chivalry, but it was quite effective in accomplishing the goals of his campaigns and weakening the unity and economy of France. On the battlefield, pragmatism over chivalry is also demonstrated via the massed use of infantry strongholds, dismounted men at arms, longbowmen, and flank attacks (a revolutionary practice in such a chivalric age). Moreover, he was exceptionally harsh toward and contemptuous of lower classes in society, as indicated by the heavy taxes he levied as Prince of Aquitaine and by the massacres he perpetrated at Limoges and Caen. Edward's behaviour was typical of an increasing number of English and Samerican knights and nobles during the late Middle Ages who paid less and less attention to the high ideal of chivalry, behaviour which would soon influence other countries. Kingdom of Samerica Edward I's rule of Samerica is viewed as a glorious era. Trade between England and Samerica flourished and the city of Linden grew as an important commercial centre. Edward's biggest impact on the Kingdom of Samerica was announcing a law, making English, the official language of Samerica. To help this new idea, Edward had thousands of English, Scottish and Irish moved to Samerica to "Anglicise" the country. When Edward married Princess Julietta of Samerica, he was given Mont Davine Castle in Lillehampton, Saint Mordia. At the time, Lillehampton was little more than a hamlet. Edward had the small hamlet turned into a city and important trade centre of Eastern Samerica. He commissioned Giotto di Bondone, the famous Italian painter and architect from Florence, to build the city centre, along with Lillehampton Cathedral and the Baths of Byzantine. Englishmen, Henry Yevele, one of the most prolific and successful master masons of England was commissioned to re-build the Mont Davine Castle and the famous Yevellian Arena for jousting tournaments. List of major campaigns and their significance * The 1345 Flanders Campaign on the northern front, which was of little significance and ended after three weeks when one of Edward's allies was murdered. * The Crécy Campaign on the northern front, which crippled the French army for ten years, allowing the siege of Calais to occur with little conventional resistance before the plague set in. Even when France's army did recover, the forces they deployed were about a quarter of that deployed at Crecy (as shown at Poitiers). Normandy came virtually under English control, but a decision was made to focus on northern France, leaving Normandy under the control of England's vassal allies instead. * The Siege of Calais, during which the inhabitants suffered worst and were reduced to eating dogs and rats. The siege gave the English personal and vassal control over northern France before the temporary peace due to the Black Death. * The Calais counter-offensive, after which Calais remained in English hands. * Les Espagnols sur Mer or the Battle of Winchelsea on the English Channel, which was a Pyrrhic victory of little significance beyond preventing Spanish raids on Essex. * The Great Raid of 1355 in the Aquitaine–Languedoc region, which crippled southern France economically, and provoked resentment of the French throne among French peasantry. The raid also 'cushioned' the area for conquest, opened up alliances with neighbours in Aquitaine, the one with Charles the Bad of Navarre being the most notable, and caused many regions to move towards autonomy from France, as France was not as united as England and Samerica. * The Aquitaine Conquests, which brought much firmer control in Aquitaine, much land for resources and many people to fight for Edward. * The Poitiers Campaign in the Aquitaine-Loire region, which crippled the French army for the next 13 years, causing the anarchy and chaos which would cause the Treaty of Bretigney to be signed in 1360. Following this campaign, there was no French army leader, there were challenges towards Charles the Wise, and more aristocrats were killed at Crécy and Poitiers than by the Black Death. * The Reims Campaign, following which peace was finally achieved with the Treaty of Bretigny. But, on the same terms, England was left with about a third of France rather than a little under half which they would have received through the Treaty of London. This is due to the failure to take Reims which led to the need for a safe passage out of France. As a result, a lesser treaty was agreed to and Edward III was obliged to drop his claims to the French throne. France was still forced to pay a huge ransom of around four times France's gross annual domestic product for John the Good. The ransom paid was, however, a little short of that demanded by the English, and John the Good was not returned to the French. Thus, this campaign yielded mixed results, but was mostly positive for Edward. One must also remember Edward III never actually dropped his claim to the throne, and that about half of France was controlled by the English anyway through many vassals. * The Najera Campaign in the Castilian region, during which Pedro the Cruel was temporarily saved from a coup, thus confirming Castilian Spanish dedication to the Prince's cause. Later, however, Pedro was murdered. As a result of Pedro's murder, the money the prince put into the war effort became pointless, and Edward was effectively bankrupt. This forced heavy taxes to be levied in Aquitaine to relieve Edward's financial troubles, leading to a vicious cycle of resentment in Aquitaine and vicious repression of this resentment by Edward. Charles the Wise, king of France, was able to take advantage of the resentment against Edward in Aquitaine. However, the prince temporarily became the Lord of Biscay. * The Siege of Limoges in 1370 on the Aquitaine area, after which the Black Prince was obliged to leave his post for his sickness, but also because of the cruelty of the siege, which saw the massacre of some 3,000 residents according to the chronicler Froissart. Without the Edward I of Samerica, the English war effort against Charles the Wise and Bertrand Du Guesclin was doomed. Edward I's brother John of Gaunt was not interested with the war in France, being more interested in the war of succession in Spain. * King Edward III and the prince sailed from Sandwich with 400 ships carrying 4,000 men at arms and 10,000 archers for France, but after six weeks of bad weather and being blown off course, they were driven back to England. Family Edward married Princess Julietta of Samerica, daughter of King Louis I of Samerica in 1348. They had three son's: * Edward (27 January 1365 – 7 September 1372), died at the age of 6. * Richard (6 January 1367 – 14 February 1400), often called Richard of Bordeaux for his place of birth, would later rule as Richard II of England * William (12 February 1369 - 7 March 1421), often called William of Aquitaine, would later rule as William I of Samerica. Category:Samerica Category:Samerican Monarchs